By Mark Tennent in Reader
Posted in Internet, Uncategorized on February 21, 2010 at 4:17 pm
My mum was mauled by a Mastiff this week. An elderly lady has been horribly wounded, her life ruined and for all we know, possibly shortened.
The dog was on a lead but such a powerful animal is almost impossible to control and bounded up to Ma, dragging its owner of two-days. Then it attacked her, just one of the many adults and children walking in the park enjoying the sunshine. The owner was apologetic, took my mother to hospital and is probably waiting for the inevitable solicitor’s letter. I hope he has insurance because the compensation will need to be huge.
This is not an unknown circumstance, in the UK, over 3,000 people are injured by dogs every year, 800,000 in the US. The world’s first face transplant went to a French mother whose face was eaten as she slept by the family’s pet Labrador, sadly proving the French expression ‘if it can lick, it can bite’.
Puppy farms and private breeders are churning out unlicensed animals, many of which are still closely related to the wild animals their genes descend from. In the case of the Mastiff, the owner bought it from a dog rescue organisation and one assumes he and they were acting with the best of intentions. There is no mandatory licence scheme or proof that owners are capable of owning such dangerous animals, the Conservatives made sure of that in 1987.
Google for Mastiff and you’ll find the pro-dog websites claim it is a loving and safe breed, good at protecting its household. They conveniently miss the survey in the US which found up to 98% carry the genes to produce epilepsy.
You find that tidbit by searching for ‘dog attacks’, alongside the grim statistics showing how all breeds of dogs are likely to attack and harm adults and children. In the case of the Mastiff it is a breed developed as a war dog, much loved by Roman legionnaires when they conquered Britain. Later, Mastiffs were used for traction, protecting herds and ‘butcher’s dogs’ in dog, bull and bear fighting. The same term is used for Rottweilers, Great Danes and other common breeds.
Why someone chose such an animal as a pet is beyond me. Why they are allowed to is another question when the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act banned any dog “appearing to be bred for fighting or to have the characteristics of a type bred for that purpose”. Surely that includes a breed developed as a war dog or used for bull, dog and bear fighting?
Bytes solution?
When I called on Saturday, the nurse tending to Ma stated that all dogs should be muzzled in public and she had been attacked by a German Shepherd dog in the course of her work. She continued that she owns two Springer Spaniels and no, hers weren’t muzzled. If only we could have shown her details on ‘Springer Rage Syndrome’ which is an event common enough to score 88,700 hits in Google.
There are only about 7 million dogs in the UK, barely 23% of the population own them. This is far less than the number of cigarette smokers whose noxious habit has been curbed to the greater good of the rest of the population.
Effective use of a national database would easily curb the extremes of dog ownership, alongside compulsory chipping which is already used for pet passports, compulsory neutering and insurances. Policing it could be paid for by the owners themselves and controlled by, say, the RSPCA.
It is all pretty similar to defra’s database of the 14 million farm livestock in the UK. An animal without a passport or refused one may not be moved unless under licence and must go straight to be destroyed at a knackers yard, or a hunt kennel!
Rated: 93.33% (3 votes)
Loading ...Comment by anonymous - February 22, 2010 on 6:03 pm
Although it is terrible that this has happened to your mother, and I am in no way debating the fact that violent dogs should be muzzled (and should in fact be trained), I do find your comment about epilepsy quite shocking. It seems that you are hinting that this in some way leads to violence, stigmatising the disorder which I think is very wrong.
Comment by - February 22, 2010 on 6:48 pm
Not stigmatising in any way, did you click on the link?
For all we know the dog was incapable of controlling its canine temperament. Just as humans can be if they have autistic spectrum disorder, Torette’s syndrome, ADHD, ODD and the like.
I was not blaming the dog for being a dog or unable to control its aggression. If you search the web for genetic disorders in dogs you will find a staggering amount of research into the subject and the results that through selective breeding, nearly all breeds have ended up with unwanted and sometimes dangerous genes which can come to the fore in individual animals.
In addition, I suggest you look at this Mastiff owners site here about the true nature of Mastiffs. Read points 10 to 13 on their aggression.
Comment by David Bradbury - February 23, 2010 on 11:23 am
Sorry to read about your mum and I hope she makes a full recovery. The police should have the dog destroyed immediately. Great idea for a dog licence. Shame no politicians have the bravery to actually bring this into effect. People pay £hundreds or more to buy and feed a dog. Why shouldnt they pay £150-200ish a year for a licence to own one. This would help pay for dog wardens and the waste bins that the non dog owwing 77% of the population end up paying for as well. the old dog licence was scrapped as it cost more to collect than it raised as not one politican with power wanted to risk losing votes by increasing its price.
Comment by - February 26, 2010 on 1:06 pm
Dogs can be unpredictable no matter what the breed. Licensing would certainly help but then, like with cars, some people would ignore it and they would be the very people we’d probably need to check up on.
I do hope your mum is feeling better.
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